


Sometimes (I Like You)

by AgentCoop



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: AFTG Winter Exchange 2020, And Sass, Because lets be honest, Bonfires, Drinking Games, Fluff, Hand Jobs, Kissing, Love Confessions, M/M, POV Andrew Minyard, Porn with Feelings, Smut, Snark, Social Media, Soft Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard, also he loves Andrew, drunk Neil is adorable, like LOVES LOVES, who wouldn't
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:41:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28080303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgentCoop/pseuds/AgentCoop
Summary: “I like you,” Neil mumbled, as soon as they were in the bedroom, as soon as Andrew locked the door, as soon as everything was dark and it was Neil and Andrew and Andrew and Neil and nothing else existed in the universe.***Nicky hosts the gang at the Columbia house. Truths are told, chaos ensues, and Andrew and Neil like each other. A lot.
Relationships: Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard
Comments: 32
Kudos: 390
Collections: AFTG Exchange Winter 2020





	Sometimes (I Like You)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kanekicure](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kanekicure/gifts).



> Written for [Kanekicure](http://twitter.com/kanekicure)  
> for the AFTG Winter Exchange
> 
> Hope you enjoy, and happiest of holidays!

_Nicky Renamed this chat to IT’S PARTY TIME BITCHES_

**[5:54 PM] Nicky** : So tonight. 8PM. As in two hours from now. Bring booze, bring yourselves, bring your happy smiley faces!

 **[5:55 PM] Matt:** Dan and I will be a little late, we’re finishing up a movie.

 **[5:55 PM] Dan** : Matt and I will be late 🍑🍆🍑🍆🍑🍆

 **[5:57 PM] Andrew** : Who is this

 **[5:57 PM] Nicky:** Neil, tell Andrew he’s coming

 **[5:57 PM] Neil** : Who is this

 **[5:57 PM] Nicky** : Andrew, give Neil his phone back

_Aaron added Katelyn to the group_

**[6:01 PM] Katelyn:** See you guys soon!

 **[6:05 PM] Allison: 🍑💎🥃🍾🍺🍸🍷**

**[6:08 PM] Neil:** Who is this

 **[6:08 PM] Nicky:** ANDREW

 **[6:08 PM] Neil:** I don’t know an Andrew

 **[6:08 PM] Renee:** 🌈🌈🌈

 **[6:10 PM] Dan:** Uh, did anyone add Kevin to this GC?

 **[6:10 PM] Nicky** : FUCK

_Nicky added Kevin to the group chat_

**[6:12 PM] Nicky:** So 8PM. one hour and 48 minutes from now. SEE YOU SOON

 **[6:12 PM] Kevin:** Seriously guys?

 **[6:26 PM] Kevin** : Guys?

***

Andrew scowled as he pulled up in front of the Columbia house. Matt’s truck, Allison’s convertible, Katelyn’s coupe, and Erik’s rental were already parked on the street and there was no open space for another block.

“We could go around again,” Neil said from the passenger seat. “You know. In case someone decides to leave.” He pulled a knee up and rested his shoe on the dash.

Andrew scowled harder. “Stop scuffing up my car.”

“Stop driving around in circles.”

“It’s my house.”

“Actually,” Neil said with his stupid little grin, “It’s Nicky’s.”

“We shouldn’t have come.”

Neil’s eyebrows rose, but he didn’t say a word.

Finally, Andrew huffed a sigh and drove down the block, pulling into a spot in front of an adorable little townhome with bright red doors. “This is on you,” he muttered, unbuckling his seatbelt.

“You’ll have fun.”

“No I won’t.”

“I’ll make it worth your while.” The tips of his ears reddened as he said it, but he kept his eyes firmly on Andrew.

Andrew leaned across the seat, reached a hand around Neil’s neck, and pulled him close. “Oh really.”

Neil worried at his lower lip with his teeth as his cheeks flushed to match his ears. “Yeah?”

Rolling his eyes, Andrew released him. “Come on.”

Neil reached across the console and brushed his fingers against Andrew’s for a second, then he ducked out of the car.

Andrew hated him.

Neil waited for him on the sidewalk with his arms crossed and his tennis shoes scuffing the pavement and that wild look in his eyes that said _go, go, go_ , and so Andrew went _slow, slow, slow_ just because it made him squirm.

Andrew liked to see him squirm.

Because he hated Neil.

“Grabbing cigarettes,” he said as he finally exited the Mas.

Neil just rolled his eyes, “C’mon. Nicky keeps texting me.”

“I liked you better when you didn’t check your phone.”

“I didn’t check it. It’s been buzzing in my pocket non-stop.”

“I liked you better when you didn’t have a phone.” he amended.

Neil grinned at him. “You didn’t like me at all, then.”

 _Yes I did_ , Andrew thought. _Yes I did_.

***

By the time they got in the house, most everyone was already in the backyard, sitting around a bonfire Nicky had started. Neil headed straight outside–Andrew made a pitstop in the kitchen for booze.

Aaron was already there, pouring a glass full of bright pink pre-mixed margarita.

“Katelyn?” Andrew grunted, because Betsy told him he was supposed to start conversations now, not just scowl at people. He grabbed the handle of SoCo and poured a glass, drinking it down straight.

Aaron gave him a furtive look. “There’s ice,” he said, pointing at the fridge.

“I am aware.”

“Katelyn’s out back.”

Andrew topped off his glass again.

“Andrew? This isn’t...she’s...”

Andrew raised his glass in Aaron’s direction. “See you outside.”

“Oh. I–”

Andrew walked out of the kitchen before Aaron could finish.

It was July, and it was South Carolina, so the muggy heat was still rolling off the pavement, and the mosquitos were swarming, and a bonfire was out-of-the-question-stupid, but Nicky was standing there with a giant stick, poking at it with an enormous smile like this was the greatest moment of his life, so Andrew decided to refrain from commenting.

He settled down next to Neil on one of the many PSU Fox stadium blankets that had made their way to the house.

“Hey,” Neil said quietly.

Andrew handed over his drink in response, and Neil took a long swallow before giving it back.

“You guys were even later than Dan and Matt,” Nicky said, giving the fire another completely unnecessary poke and sending sparks flying. “Whatcha been up to?”

“Fucking,” Neil announced.

There was a moment of quiet, Andrew shot Neil an _are-you-serious_ look, Neil shot him a _obviously-I-am-because-I’m-an-asshole_ look back, then Dan burst out laughing while Allison leaned in for a high five.

“Damn, Neil,” Matt said.

“Damn, Neil,” Nicky repeated, shaking his head. “Erik!”

Erik stepped up behind him and wrapped his arms around Nicky’s waist, then bent down and whispered something in his ear, just as Aaron opened the door.

“Oh, come on,” Aaron muttered, walking over to Katelyn on the other side of the fire and handing her the disgusting looking pink drink. “Gross.”

Andrew looked from person to person–to Allison who was sitting, back perfectly straight, hair long, sparkling heels still on. To Renee, who was sharing a blanket with Dan and Matt and gave him a friendly wave. To Katelyn who had snuggled into Aaron’s side even though the heat index was stifling. To Kevin who was sitting on his own blanket and appeared to be staring at his phone–

“Kevin!” Matt shouted, throwing an empty beer can at him.

Kevin managed to duck out of the way without even looking up, and the can hit the concrete behind him. Scowling, he finally thumbed off his phone and tucked it in his pocket. “What?”

“Okay, seriously, put the phone down, pick up the vodka, and be fun.”

Kevin very pointedly picked up the fifth of vodka sitting next to him and took a very long swallow, then wiped his forearm across his mouth. “Draft picks,” he said.

Everyone just stared at him.

“Oh come on, draft picks for court. They’re going on right now, I need to keep up–”

“That’s not till next month,” Neil said.

“Fuck you, I know that, but they’re scouting right now–”

Dan threw another beer can and this one hit him in the arm. Kevin gave a little squeak of protest, everyone glared, he took another drink, everyone glared a little less, and he finally sat down.

There was camaraderie here–the sort of thing Andrew never thought he’d experience. They’d gotten that cabin after Baltimore, and they’d finished the season strong, but the seniors were graduating, and Andrew hadn’t expected them all to just…

be this.

Be together.

Be happy.

He grimaced, then swallowed down more whiskey.

“Truth or Dare!” Nicky announced.

“No.” Allison tossed a napkin into the fire and it caught immediately, paper curling as it disintegrated to ash. “We always play that. Never Have I Ever.”

“We always play that too,” Aaron muttered.

Dan pointed straight at him. “Never have I ever complained about a drinking game!”

Scowling, Aaron drank.

“Okay, okay.” Allison snapped her fingers, getting everyone’s attention back on her. “Never have I ever kissed a Monster.”

“Allison,” Nicky whined, “and here I thought we were friends.”

Allison just cocked an eyebrow and primly watched Erik, Katelyn, and Nicky drink.

“Hold up, Nicky–” Dan started.

Nicky flushed, and gave Neil a guilty look. “Uh...Neil? Come on, Andrew, you’ve gotta drink too.”

“I’m a monster?” Neil asked.

“Always have been, always will be,” Allison said with a snide little grin.

“Wait, Nicky kissed Neil?” Dan said, still stuck on that. Matt just shrugged, then topped her cup off from the handle of tequila sitting next to them.

Neil grabbed Andrew’s glass and drank, then offered it to Andrew.

Andrew grunted. This was dumb. They were dumb. And Neil was looking at him with those bright blue eyes, smile growing the kind of big that it only got while he was drinking. Rolling his eyes, Andrew grabbed the glass back and took his penalty shot.

“Another round!” Matt shouted, and passed a handle of tequila around to circle so people could top off their glasses.

Andrew swallowed down the last of his drink, then obediently filled up.

Because Neil wanted him to play nice.

Because what the hell.

Because Neil–

“Never have I ever owned a Maserati,” Neil announced.

Andrew shot him a very dirty look.

“What?” Neil shrugged. “I haven’t.”

Andrew drank again as everyone else laughed, then reached over and shoved Neil hard enough that he toppled to the side. “My turn?” Andrew asked. “Never have I ever wasted an entire afternoon taking notes about exy.”

Kevin gave a heavily dramatic sigh, Neil just pushed himself back up and grinned, and both of them drank.

The game went downhill from there.

Never have I ever played strip poker. (Dan, Matt, Allison, Katelyn, Erik, Nicky, and Renee took drinks.)

Never have I ever fucked in the locker room. (Dan, Matt, Allison.)

Never have I ever wanted to murder Kevin Day. (Kevin.)

Never have I ever made out on a roof. (Neil, and Andrew.)

Never have I ever made out in a Maserati. (Neil, and Andrew who was suddenly very suspicious.)

Never have I ever worn matching armbands and matching coats and matching murder scowls. (Neil, and Andrew, who was _extremely_ suspicious, who found this entire game unreasonable, but was well on his way to drunk, and Neil was smiley, and Neil had blue eyes, and Neil was warm, and Andrew wanted to kiss Neil, and so he did, and then everything stopped for a second.)

When he came back up for air, everyone was staring at them.

“What?” Andrew growled.

Nicky’s eyes went from him, to Neil, to Dan, back to Neil, to Allison, to everywhere. “Uh…we’ve never actually seen you guys like...uh…”

“Kiss!” Dan shouted drunkenly, raising a glass to them that slopped wildly over the edge and soaked her in tequila. “Oh my god, they actually like each other.”

“Gross,” Aaron started, but Katelyn wrapped an arm around his neck and pulled him in for a kiss before he could get any further.

“I like him,” Neil said, nose wrinkling like he was confused. “I…” he looked at Andrew. “I like you? They don’t know that?”

He was swaying ever so slightly, and Andrew wanted to kiss him again, but everyone was watching, and Andrew was supposed to be growly.

He was definitely supposed to be growly.

“Guess not,” he said, each syllable just a little too round as they came off his tongue.

He was drunk.

He was very drunk.

“Oh my god they like each other!” Dan announced again. “I win! I win the bet! I winnn–”

“You bet on that?” Neil asked, sounding horribly wounded.

“Yeah.” Allison threw her head back and gave a wildly dramatic sigh. “Pot got pretty big. Most were on you guys just hate-fucking. Dan and Renee bet on…” she drunkenly waved in their general direction. “Whatever that just was. Kevin, get off your fucking phone!”

Kevin shot her a nasty look, but pushed it back in his pocket and took another long gulp of vodka.

And the game picked up again.

And they drank more.

And they talked, and laughed, and smiled, and watched the fire crackle down to nothing because that’s what friends do.

They were friends.

Interesting.

***

The house was too small for this many people.

The living room was a tangle of bodies, all hazily fitting themselves on the couch and the chairs and the floors to sleep off the large amount of alcohol they’d all just ingested.

Nicky pulled Erik up the stairs, Katelyn followed Aaron, and Neil stood in the kitchen, head under the sink, gulping water straight from the tap.

“We own glasses,” Andrew commented drily.

Neil just flipped him off with one hand, finished gulping, and sat back up with a gasp. “Thirsty,” he said.

“You don’t say.”

“Bedroom?”

Andrew grunted. “You’re drunk.”

Neil’s nose wrinkled as he considered that fact, then finally he shrugged and flashed a brilliant grin. “Yeah. I think I am. Bedroom?”

“Can you make it up the stairs without tripping and smashing your face in?”

“You could carry me.”

Snorting, Andrew turned around and headed out of the kitchen, trusting that Neil would follow.

“I like you,” Neil mumbled, as soon as they were in the bedroom, as soon as Andrew locked the door, as soon as everything was dark and it was Neil and Andrew and Andrew and Neil and nothing else existed in the universe.

“I know,” Andrew muttered, following Neil over to the bed.

“No, I _like_ you. They didn’t know that. But I do. I like–”

“Hey, Neil?” Andrew said, pushing against him until they were eye to eye, nose to nose, until he could see the flutter of Neil’s pulse against his throat. “Shut up.”

Neil kissed like he played exy–dangerous, passionate, like every moment could be his last. Andrew straddled him, then followed him down, desperate for every taste, because it was the only way to shut him up, because he liked it, because Neil liked him, and Andrew–

“Mmm,” Neil murmured against him, reaching a hand up and letting it hover just behind Andrew’s neck.

“Yes,” Andrew bit out against his lips, and immediately Neil’s fingers wrapped around the back of his neck and pulled him painfully closer.

Sometimes they kissed.

Sometimes they did nothing but fall asleep.

Sometimes Neil had nightmares, and Andrew reached across and threaded his fingers through Neil’s and did nothing but breath as steadily as he possibly could, waiting for Neil to latch on to every inhalation, waiting for Neil’s heartbeat to slow and match his own.

Sometimes he carefully slipped fingers underneath Neil’s belt, and unbuttoned his jeans, and slid them down just far enough, and snagged Neil’s lower lip between his teeth, and pushed himself down, and swallowed Neil whole, and listened to the tiny gasps of noise that Neil made right before he came.

Sometimes Andrew had nightmares and Neil didn’t say anything. Neil didn’t reach across and grab his hand. Neil just laid beside him, warm, steady, unwavering.

He blinked.

“Yes,” Neil bit out, and Andrew rucked up his shirt, let his fingers slide across the muscle of Neil’s stomach, pushed lower and lower, tracing the line of his hips.

Neil’s fingers tightened around Andrew’s neck, and he ducked his head up, quickly pressing a kiss to the spot just below Andrew’s ear, to the spot that made him shiver, to the spot that made him say “Junkie,” and “Idiot,” and “Your neck fetish is not attractive,” to the spot that made him think _more_.

Neil was hard beneath his hand, and Andrew was relentless, and it never took long between them, it never took more than Neil pressing his lips against Andrew’s and Andrew desperately wrapping his hand around Neil. Neil gave a strangled little gasp and then he came, icy blue eyes open.

“You?” he murmured, as he finally let go of Andrew and fell back to the pillow.

Sometimes, Andrew let Neil touch him and it didn’t burn, and it didn’t hurt, and it didn’t feel like someone else's fingers on his skin, it felt like _Neil_.

“No,” he breathed against Neil’s mouth.

Sometimes he didn’t.

“I like you,” Neil said.

Andrew could feel the way he started to smile against his lips. Pushing himself off of the bed, Andrew wiped his hand against his shirt, then went rifling through his dresser for clean clothes. “Be back,” he said.

Neil didn’t answer, just rolled over and gave his stupid drunken, junkie smile.

Andrew liked him too.

***

 **[1:44 PM] Nicky** : To whoever left the used condom in the bathroom trash, there is this thing called toilet paper, WRAP IT UP, JESUS CHRIST

_Dan renamed this chat to IT’S WHINY TIME BITCHES_

**[1:45 PM] Nicky:** Okay, seriously? You were all downstairs! All of you!

 **[1:47 PM] Matt:** Dan and I were sleeping

 **[1:48 PM] Dan:** 🍑🍆🍑🍆🍑🍆

 **[1:52 PM] Kevin:** Fuck you all.

 **[1:53 PM] Allison:** Niceeeee

 **[1:53 PM] Nicky:** YOU WERE ALL DOWNSTAIRS. TOGETHER

 **[1:53 PM] Allison** : I was drunk. I heard nothing. Get it, Dan

 **[1:54 PM] Renee:** I wasn’t. Also, Matt is loud.

 **[1:55 PM] Matt:** Dan and I were sleeping, okay, WE WERE SLEEPING

 **[1:55 PM] Neil:** Stop texting this number

 **[1:56 PM] Katelyn:** Unless it was a Magnum, it wasn’t us 😘

 **[1:56 PM] Dan:** DAMN

 **[1:56 PM] Matt:** Wait, really?

 **[1:56 PM] Kevin** : Fuck you all

 **[1:56 PM] Aaron:** Thanks, Babe

 **[1:57 PM] Nicky:** OH COME ON

 **[1:59 PM] Nicky** : There is no way. No way. AARON. Wait. Andrew? Does he? GET OFF OF NEIL’S PHONE, DOES HE?

 **[2:01 PM] Andrew:** Who is this

 **[2:01 PM] Nicky:** I hate all of you. You are never invited back. Ever.

**Author's Note:**

> If you want to see me be a ridiculous caricature of a human being, then please:  
> Follow me on [Twitter](http://twitter.com/agentcoop1)  
> Follow me on [Tumblr](https://iamagentcoop.tumblr.com/)  
> 


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